Santa Clara County Project Welcome Home

County of Santa Clara Launches California's First Pay for Success Project

Project Welcome Home will provide housing and supportive services for the chronically homeless and aims to improve quality of life and reduce reliance on costly government services.

The County of Santa Clara is launching Project Welcome Home, the first Pay for Success project launched in the State of California. In partnership with Abode Services, a national leader in innovative housing services, the County of Santa Clara intends to serve 150-200 chronically homeless individuals that are also frequent users of the County’s emergency rooms, acute mental health facilities, and jail.

Abode will provide chronically homeless individuals with access to community-based clinical services and permanent supportive housing using evidence-based Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and a Housing First approach. These services are designed to end the participants’ homelessness, increase income, and provide increased access to ongoing physical and behavioral health services.

The Project

Studies have shown that chronically homeless individuals, with little to no access to stable housing and long-term supportive services, end up utilizing significant and disproportionate government resources in the form of emergency room visits, jail time, and other services that provide only short-term relief. On any given night in Santa Clara County, more than 6,500 people in the County are homeless, of whom over 2,200 can be classified as chronically homeless. An individual who is chronically homeless is defined as an adult (or a family with at least one adult member) with a disabling condition, such as substance abuse or mental illness, who has been continuously homeless for one year or more and/or has experienced four or more episodes of homelessness within the past three years.

Abode will use an evidence-based, modified Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team model that includes community-based clinical services integrated with a flexible array of housing options, to provide permanent housing and supportive services for the most vulnerable members of the chronically homeless population. These services are designed to end the participants’ homelessness, increase income, and provide increased access to ongoing physical and behavioral health services.

More than ever, funders are seeking creative opportunities to put their money to work in ways that are proven to help people in need. Both private funders and philanthropic organizations will provide a total of $6.9 million in upfront funding for the project. The County will only repay funders based on the number of months of continuous stable housing achieved by project participants. Depending on the project’s level of success, the County will pay up to $8 million over six years using annually appropriated success payments.

Government: Santa Clara County, California

The County of Santa Clara will make success payments based on the number of months of continuous stable tenancy achieved by project participants that are confirmed by the independent evaluator. The County of Santa Clara has a population of nearly 1.8 million, is the largest of the San Francisco Bay, and is the 4th largest county in California. San Jose is the largest city in the County, with a population of nearly 1 million. The County has over 15,000 employees across 26 diverse agencies and departments and operates with a $4 billion budget.

Service Provider: Abode Services

Abode Services is a nonprofit agency that provides an array of innovative programs to end homelessness throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in 1989, Abode has grown to a $29 million agency that provides housing and services to improve the lives of more than 4,400 adults and children each year. Abode operates over 30 supportive housing programs that keep close to 1,200 households in housing on any given night. A national leader in its field, Abode has consulted widely about permanent housing solutions, and its senior staff have been recruited to present nationally about its success in implementing housing strategies. It has received prestigious grants from the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, among many others. Abode also plays a critical role in 12 formal collaborative partnerships with more than 40 other public and private entities. Abode has worked toward its mission of ending homelessness for more than 25 years.